Safety repair device for high-voltage transmission-lines.



G. S. NEELEY. SAFETY REPAIR DEVICE FOR HIGH VOLTAGE TRANSMISSION LINES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30. 1915.

1,221,893. Patented Apr. 10,1917.

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SAFETY REPAlR DEVICE FOR HUSH VOLTAGE TRANSMlSSiON LINES. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30, 1915.

15221393. E Patented A r. 10, 1917.

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GEORGE s. KEELEY, 0E ovEnLm PARK, mssovnnnssmnon or oK -HALE To moans o. MOLONEY, or sun. LOUIS, m ssoum. I

SAFETY mam DEVICE FOR HIGH-VOLTAGE TmsmssIon-Ikmas.

' To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEoRoE S; Nr LEY, a citizen of the United States, reslding at I Overland Park, St. Louis county, Missouri,

have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Safety Repair Devices for High-Voltage Transmission-Lines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to'make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formlng part of this specification.

My invention relates generally to the art of overhead electric transmission and distribution lines, and more particularly to safety devicesvin the nature of insulators,

insulator supports, and wire clamping and holding means which are adapted to be utilized by workmen in effecting repairs to the overhead lines and the supports therefor.

The principal object of my invention is to provide comparatively simple inexpensive means which can be readily manipulated with minimum danger to the lineman for handling live wires and for effecting either 1 a temporary or permanent connection between the line wire and its support, which latter under the present practice generally takes the form of an insulator of glass, porcelain, or earthen material.

Other objects of my invention "are-to provide a new and improved form of wire clamp, which can be easily and quickly applied to insulators of the type now in general use further to provide a comparatively simple wire gripping member which can be advantageously utilized for temporarily engaging a live wire and holding the same in proper position until permanent repairs can be made to said live Wire or its supportmg insulator, and further to provide simple means for holding one or a series of live' wires on a cross arm in a plane a substantial distance above the plane of a wire which is to be repaired, thus giving ample room for the workman to effect the necessary repairs and minimizing the danger tosaid workman during the repair operations.

. It will beunderstood that overhead lines utilized for the transmission and distribution of electricity generally embody a support comprising a pole and one or more cross arms, insulators applied to the cross arm on opposite sides of the pole, and the Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr, 10, 1917, Application filed September 80, 1911?. Serial No. 53,394. i

line wires which are secured to said insulators. i

For various causes, insulators are frequently broken and an important feature in the maintenance of overhead transmission lines and those utilized in high tension or the lines fora given period of time and thena switched to certain other of the lines for av like period. This practice of awaiting until the wires are dead before making repairs is objectionable for the reason that when an insulator becomes broken, continued service .through the line supported by said broken insulator is attended with danger, owing to V the breaking down of the insulation of the system at this particular point. Where the insulation is thus broken, there is necessarily danger to life and property, and where service is interrupted, there is more or less dissatisfaction among consumers of current.

In overhead transmission lines there are frequently a series of current carrying wires located on a cross arm to one side of the pole and in the event that it becomes necessary to make repairs to the insulator which carries the outer one of said wires, the lineman must necessarily work over or under those wires which are between said outer wire and the pole. In thus making repairs, the lineman is constantly in danger of cone tact with those wires between the outer wire and pole, and to eliminate such danger, I

ropose to provide simple means which can e readily applied to the cross arms for engaging and holding the wires between the outer wire and the pole in a plane a sub-,

stantial distance above said outer wire, thus giving the lineman ample room in which to work and make the necessary repairs.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of an insulator K Fig. 3 is a vertical section Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. taken approximately on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. at is a perspective view of my improved wire clamp, the same being suspended by a hook which is utilized for manipulating said clamp when the same is applied to an insulator and live wire.

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of an insulator support and showing the, position the supporting pin thereof assumes when bent under the pulling strains of a wire whlch be comes broken at a point immediately adJacent to th said insulator. I r Fig. 6 is an elevational view partly in section of a wrench utilized in tightening a bolt forming a partt'of mylmproved wire clamp.

Fig. 7 is'an elevational View of a pole and cross arm an showinga number of the insulators and wires elevated with. respect to 'that'insulat'or and wire which is located at the outer end of the cross arm. I

Fig. 8 is an enlarged vertical section taken approximately on the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is an elevational view of the upper end of a pole and a series of cross arms thereonand with a number of the wires which are supported by insulators on one cross arm'eleva'ted with respect to the wire at the outer end of said arm.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the wire support forming a part of my improved safety device.

Referring by numerals to the accompany ing drawings, and particularly the construction of the device illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 Formed in the upper portion ofthis insu;

lator is the usual annular groove 12 which, under the present practice, receives the tie wire and formed in the top of said insulator is a transversely disposed line wire receiv- 1ng groove 13.

The line wire clamping means which is associated'with this insulator, comprises a metal yoke 14 inthe center of which is formed a vertically disposed aperture which receives a set screw 15. The lower ends of the arms of this yoke are curved inwardly to form hooks 16 which engage in the groove 12 when the clamping device is applied to the insulator.

The line wire engaging member of the clamp comprises a horizontally disposed bar 17, the underside of which is substantially concave in cross section in order to form a seat for the line wire which is engaged by said bar and formed integral with gripping line wire nee eea and projecting upwardly from said bar near the center thereof are ears 18 which occupy positions at the sides of the center of yoke 14:.

Formed integral with the central portion of said yoke and at the sides of the cars 18 are vertically disposed ribs 19 which serve as guides for said ears 18 during the vertical movement of the clamping bar 17 and in order to maintain the two parts of the clamp in assembled position the upper ends of the ears 18 are extended inward to form ribs or flanges 20- which overlie the top of the central portion of yoke 14. When the two parts of the clamp are assembled it is, of

course, necessary upper portions of the ears l8 apart in order to enter the central portion of the yoke 14 between said ears and as the clamping bar and said ears are made of resilient or ductile naterial, this spreading action of said ears set screw 15 bears diof the central portion of the 17 to bear directly against the underside of the central portion of yoke 14.

The device is now engaged by a hook 21 as seen inFig. 4, and manipulated so as to locate clamping bar 17 on the line wire a short distance to one side of the insulator. Said device is now moved along the wire until it is positioned directly over the insulator with the hooks 16 positioned within groove 12. Screw 15 is now manipulated by means of a wrench, preferably of the type illustrated in Fig. 6, and as said screw is moved downward in hook 14," it forces clamping bar 17 downward, thereby firmly A between" insulator and said gripping bar.

Necessarily, as the screw 15 is thus moved downward to effect the clamping action, the hooks 16 will be drawn upward in groove 12 and which action combined with the clamping of the line wire against the insulator very effectually locks the clamping means to said insulator.

The hook 21 is preferably of metal and is carried by the lower end; of ahandle 22 of wood or suitable insulation.

The wrench utilized for manipulating set screw 15 comprises'a handle23, preferably of wood or insulating material, the same carrying at its lower end a socket 2st of metal with the aperture or recess in said socket of such size and shape as to engage the head of set screw 15. r

to spring or spread the I 17 and forces the latter down- The wire clamping means thus constructed can be easily and quickly applied to or removed from an insulator and line wire and wholly eliminates the tie wires now utilized for securing line wires to insulators, as well as eliminating the time and labor involved in attaching said wires. Further, my improved clamp entirely eliminates the danger which attends the operation and work of the lineman in securing line wires to insulators by means of tie wires, which latter must be applied directly to and twisted around the line wire.

It has been noted that where a high voltage line wire breaks, the point of breakage is usually immediately adjacent to an insulator, and in practice I have found that when such break occurs, the strains due to the weight of the line wire on the broken side, generally bend the metal pin which supports the insulator laterally as shown in Fig. 5 and as the insulator and the wire gripping means are thus thrown into angular positions a kink or sharp bend such as a is formed in the line wire immediately adjacent to the end of the clamping bar 17 This disposition of the broken end of the wire with relation to the substantially horizontal plane occupied by the body of the wire extending to the next adjacent insulator combined with the ripping action of the bar 17, tends to more firmly hold the end of the wire in position between said bar and the insulator and prevents this gripped end from withdrawing from the gripping means and dropping to the ground.

In overhead transmission lines, it frequently happens that a cross arm carries several wires which occupy the same horizontal plane must be made on the outer one of the wires or the insulator carrying the same, the lineman must necessarily work immediately over or under those wires which are between the outer wire and the pole. Inthe event that there are a number of these intermediate wires, the danger to the lineman is greatly increased and in order to minimize such danger, I propose to provide means for temporarily elevating the intermediate wires so as to give ample working space for the lineman while making the necessary repairs to the outer wire.

This temporary support comprises a rod or shaft 32 of wood or suitable insulating material, the upper end thereof being threaded so as to engage in the threaded recess in the body of the ordinary insulator. The lower end of this rod or shaft carries a socket 33 provided in its lower end with a threaded recesswhereby it maybe readily positioned on the pin of the insulator support.

Where this form of device is used, the line wire is detached from the insulator and the and in the event that repairs.

latter is now unscrewed from its support, after which the upper end of rod or shaft 32 is screw-seated in said insulator.

The socket 33 is now screw-seated on the insulator support and the line wire is now secured in position on top of the insulator. In practice, these temporary holders are approximately fifteen or eighteen inches in length, and thus the intermediate lines or those wires between the pole and outer wire, can be elevated a sutlicient distance to permit the lineman to make the necessary repairs to the outer wire without danger of contact with the intermediate wires.

Where a pole carries more than one cross arm and repairs are necessary to the outer Wire of the lower cross arm, the intermediate wires can be released from their insulators, and elevated as shown in Fig. 9 and supported on a hanger, preferably of the type illustrated in Fig. 10. This hanger comprises a metal hook 34 which is adapted to engage over a cross arm and carried by the lower end of this hook is a spool 35 of wood or suitable insulating material.

When this sort of a device is utilized, the wires when elevated are supported by the spools 35.

Repair devices of my improved construction are comparatively simple, can be easily applied for use, and afford a comparatively high degree of safety to linemen who are obliged to make repairs to high tension lines while the same are carrying current of high voltage.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved device can be made and substituted for those herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1-. In a device of the class described, a substantially inverted'U-shaped yoke the lower ends of the legs of which are adapted to engage a wire carryinginsulator, a wire gripping member suspended from the central portion of said yoke, and means cooperating with said yoke and gripping memher to cause the yoke to grip the insulator and said gripping member to clamp the line wire against said insulator.

2. In a device of the class described, a substantially inverted U-shaped yoke the lower ends of the legs of which are adapted to engage a wire carrying insulator, a wire clamping member loosely connected to said yoke, and an adjustable member on the yoke and adapted to bear on said wire clamping member to cause the same to grip a wire and to simultaneously cause the yoke to grip the insulator.

3. In a device of the class described, a substantially inverted U-shaped yoke the lower ends of the legs of which are adapted to engage a wire carrying insulator, a Wire gripping member loosely connected to said yoke, and a set screw seated in the yoke and bearing on said wire gripping member.

4:. The combination with grooved Wire carrying insulator, of a yoke provided with hooks adapted to engage in the groove in said insulator, a wire gripping member loosely connected to said yoke, and means cooperating with said yoke and member for simultaneously causing the gripping member to clamp the wire against the insulator and causing said yoke to grip the insulator.

5. The combination with a wire carrying insulator of a member having hooks adapted to engage said insulator, member having sliding connection with said first mentioned member, and means cooperating with the two members for simultaneously causing the first mentionedmember to grip the insulator and, the second mentioned member to clamp the wire againstsaid insulator.

6. In a device of the class described, a suba wire gripping,

stantially inverted U-shaped yoke, the lower ends of which are provided with insulator engaging hooks, a wire gripping member arranged for sliding movement on the central portion of said yoke, and an adjustable member seated in said yoke and bearing on said Wire engaging member.

7. The combination with a wire carrying insulator, of a yoke adapted to be disposed above the insulator, said yoke being provided with hooks which engage the insulator, an elongated wire gripping member carried by and having sliding connection with the central portion of 'said yoke, said wire gripping member being disposed substantially at right angles t the plane occupied by the yoke, and an adjustable member seated in the yoke and bearing against the top of the wire gripping member. I

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 28th day of September, 1915.

GEORGE S. NEELEY.

Witnesses:

M. P. SMITH, A. HANDEL. 

